The new primocane-fruiting raspberry cultivar designated as ‘PBBrasp1348’ is described herein. Botanically known as Rubus idaeus L., this new variety resulted from a hand-pollinated cross of female parent ‘Pacific Gema’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 28,080), a release from the same program, and the unpatented male parent ‘E10-22’. Hand-pollination occurred in April 2012 and seeds from this controlled cross were subsequently harvested, cleaned, germinated, and established as seedlings in spring 2013 in Watsonville, Calif., Santa Cruz County, USA.
‘PBBrasp1348’ was first identified in a substrate block, where seedlings had individually been planted into 3 liter pots, in September 2013 in Watsonville, Calif. This selection was first propagated asexually by crown division (of the original potted mother-plant) in autumn 2013 in Watsonville, Calif. The crown on the original plant was parted into basal cane pieces (approximately 15 cm long) with root attached and planted into soil, in a selection plot elsewhere on the farm, resulting in a 10-fold increase in plant material. Harvest and postharvest data were collected from this larger plot of ‘PBBrasp1348’ for two years, from 2014 through 2016.
In January 2014, additional root pieces from the original mother-plant were planted into an on-site greenhouse. Two actively growing etiolated shoots were forced from roots, transplanted and potted. Once established, these shoots were sent to Lafayette, Oreg., USA, where vegetative material was explanted and established in vitro for micropropagation. Subsequent asexual propagation was done on-site in Watsonville, Calif. and, along with tissue-cultured plantlets, ‘PBBrasp1348’ was evaluated extensively over the next several years for performance and genetic stability.
The present cultivar, ‘PBBrasp1348’ offers many advantages over the existing, patent-pending cultivar and maternal parent, ‘Pacific Gema’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 28,080). Average fruit size of ‘PBBrasp1348’ is larger, berries detach more easily from the receptacle, are of lighter color, and are more broadly-conic in shape (versus the narrow conic shape of ‘Pacific Gema’). Yield of ‘PBBrasp1348’ is also greater than ‘Pacific Gema’, on average, possibly due to its heavy branching habit. The lighter color, high gloss, ease of fruit detachment and improved yield offers significant advantages to growers, who require fast picking speeds and non-darkening color, combined with glossiness which helps to extend shelf life of the fruit (by appearing to stay fresher for a longer period of time). The larger, broadly-conic berries help growers fill baskets more quickly, leading to increased harvest efficiency. Root vigor, subsequent cane vigor, and floricane budbreak for ‘PBBrasp1348’ is similar to ‘Pacific Gema’.
In contrast to the unpatented male parent ‘E10-22’, the present cultivar ‘PBBrasp1348’ is significantly greater in vigor, plant fitness and offers larger fruit. In particular, the amount of suckers that ‘PBBrasp1348’ produces is two-fold of its paternal parent. This improvement is of significant importance to growers, who rely upon the regenerative ability of suckers, in order to guarantee subsequent crops. The desirable light color of ‘PBBrasp1348’ is similar to that of the male parent. In contrast to the darker fruit color and lower yields of previous cultivar releases from the same program, including ‘Pacific Deluxe’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 21,074) and ‘Pacific Royale’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 21,536), ‘PBBrasp1348’ offers a significant improvement for commercial raspberry growers. Thus, these characteristics help define ‘PBBrasp1348’ as a new and distinct cultivar of primocane-fruiting raspberry. ‘PBBrasp1348’ may be recognized by its high vigor, strong suckering habit, uniform floricane budbreak, heavily-branched canes, large broadly-conic berries of light color and high gloss, and which consistently yield more than existing varieties within the same program.